The David Archer Logs
by PurpleViolin
Summary: Follow the road of David Archer, a young mathematical savant. Get a glimpse of his past and how he started out as a boy who struggled to be like everyone else to the young man who started to find his own path. Find out his real reasons for volunteering himself to the dread Project Overlord. Rated T for mild language and mild violence. Using the 30 Days of Writing as my prompts.
1. Beginning

_**Disclaimer: I do not owe David Archer or the Mass Effect franchise. It rightfully belongs to BioWare and EA Games.**_

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David's bubbling laugh resonated throughout the playroom. Toys were littered and scattered across the floor. Sunlight entered from the numerous windows; creating a safe and light haven for two year old David. He made whooshing sounds as he played with a space ship; running around the room as he "flew" the ship. He ran in a circle for a long time before he settled down on the floor. He slammed the toy ship to the ground while making a loud noise. He gargled a dramatic cry as he rubbed the toy on the carpet floor. A full minute past before he abandoned the toy and reached his arms to collect plastic blocks.

Footsteps echoed outside of the playroom but David paid no attention. He stared intently at the bright blocks as he stacked them in a tower. The door open and in came a dark haired woman came in silently. The woman smiled gently as she watched her son played by himself. David didn't make any indication that he noticed that his mother, Clarissa, came.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?" she asked quietly as she walked towards him; making sure he didn't step on any of the toys.

David smacked the tower of blocks and giggled in happiness. He clapped and cheered at his fallen blocks. Afterwards he picked the blocks stacked them once again. He still hadn't noticed that his mother was there.

Clarissa crouched down and looked at David in concern. "Gavin is not playing with you?" she asked once again, biting her lips. When David continued to play and ignore her she called out his name. David knocked down his tower and began to build it again. "David? Darling, look at me," she commanded him as she tried to get in his line of vision.

David finally removed his attention of his blocks and looked up at his mother. He gave her a brief smile until his eyes quickly darted away from his mother. Clarissa moved her head to stay in David's line of sight but David refused to look at her.

"David, look at me," she commanded again but with a stern tone. David disobeyed.

Clarissa stared hard at him before she stood up straight and walked towards the door. She left the door slightly open; still being able to see David from the other side. She sighed dishearteningly as she looked sadly at the auburn haired man who was leaning against the wall across the playroom.

"He's not listening to me, Benjamin," Clarissa whispered as she rubbed her arms, "He's doing so lately."

The man, Benjamin, nodded his head solemnly as he pushed himself off the wall. He moved closer to his wife and laid his hands on top of her shoulders. "…He's getting worse," he whispered back to her.

"B-But," Clarissa protested weakly, "He can't have it…Not our son…Not our baby boy!"

Benjamin remained silent as he heard the incoherent speech being produce by David. The stress lines in his face became more prominent; looking as if he aged an extra ten years. He wanted to deny it; that his son had autism. Both his and Clarissa's family never had a person in the autism spectrum. At least, not the he could recall. It must had been an ancestor of David; a repressed gene that was passed on to him. But why in God's name did it have to be him? Why him?!

Clarissa shook her head; her tears brimming in her eyes. "What are we going to do?" she asked helplessly; her voice shaking and lips trembling.

Benjamin let out a heavy sigh, but said nothing. There were no words. He didn't need words; Clarissa could read exactly what he was thinking by looking into his brown eyes. Clarissa let a few tears escape from her eyes and hugged her husband as she sobbed quietly. Benjamin held her tightly and ran his hand through her hair. They stood there for a long time in all the while David's squeals could be heard from inside the playroom.

The sounds of approaching footsteps alerted the couple and looked to the source of the sound. Soon eleven year old Gavin appeared in front of them.

"Father? Mother? What's wrong?" he asked as he looked curiously at his parents. He never seen his mother cry before and that he seen it; he didn't like it. It made him wanted to cry with her. Problem was; what was she crying about?

Clarissa wiped the stray tears from her face while Benjamin stepped away from her. "Nothing, son," he assured his eldest as he placed his arm on Gavin's shoulder. "Why don't you play with your brother?"

Gavin scrunched his nose in displeasure. "But he bites," he complained, "And he doesn't know how to play right." He really didn't like the part where David bites. None of his friends played like he does. It's like David won't listen to him! His family told him numerous times that he was still a baby. He guessed it was true, but at least David could stop biting him.

Benjamin smiled, but it didn't match his eyes. "Come now, Gavin. Your brother is harmless. Teach him to play right and maybe he'll play with you more," he explained in a semi-commanding tone.

Gavin gave an exasperated sigh and nodded his head, "Alright, alright."

Benjamin nodded his head in approval and walked back to his wife; ushering her to leave the area.

Gavin looked at his parents in confusion before he shrugged his shoulders. They've been upset by something, but they kept reassuring Gavin that it was nothing to worry about. After all, they are his parents. They were super smart and can do anything with technology. There was nothing to worry about. He marched his way into the playroom and his muffled voice resonated from the room. "David! That's my space ship!"

David's laughter boomed loudly.

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**A/N: **Hello everyone! So I wanted to explain where I'm going with this. I run a David Archer RP blog on tumblr (**mathematical-savant, **in case you are curious) and I did these 30 days of writing prompts for him. I only did some because I never found the time to finish them. Since there is a disturbing lack of David Archer fics on here, I came to rectify it. These logs will not go in chronological order because of the different prompts. This is completely in my headcanon, but I wanted to dig deep into David and his life so I hope you don't mind. Let this be clear that David really affect me during Project Overlord. I never played a game where one of the minor characters had such an impact on the player like David. I fell in love with David and I wished that we would've learn more about him. I really want to do David justice, so I'll accept any criticism (constructive please) to further aid my development for David.

Like in every story of mine, please review and let me know how I'm doing. You can also check out my other stories if you want (you don't have to). I hope that you enjoyed it and you will be interested in more chapters.

Your humble servant,

PurpleViolin


	2. Accusation

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own David Archer or the Mass Effect Franchise. It belongs rightfully to BioWare and EA Games.**_

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Accusation

David pulled his knees to his chest and laid his head on his arms. He was in the medical room in Grissom Academy; occupying a bed that was position in the far corner of the room. Bright lights illuminated the room and although he prefers to there be light, the fluoresces lights were starting to bother him. He played the hem of his hospital gown but he eventually stopped once the texture felt odd against his fingertips. To distract him he started to count square root numbers. One…Four…Nine…Sixteen…

The sounds of doors opening alerted him; causing him to tense up. He didn't look but he could hear the sounds of footsteps entering. He concluded that there were two pairs of feet walking in. He could tell without even looking. He pressed his knees tight against his chest; the pressure soothing his trembling state.

"How many times must I remind you to stay away from flammable objects?" An older man spoke.

David immediately recognized the man's voice; Dr. Thorn. David had gotten to know both the voice and the man these past three months. Dr. Thorn was a middle aged man and one of the many doctors who worked and heal many of the students in Grissom Academy. Dr. Thorn was, in fact, the only doctor that worked close to David.

The other voice David did not recognized, "This time it was part of my project!"

David turned his head to the side and dared to look. He saw the familiar lab coat and blond hair of Dr. Thorn but he took closer look at the person besides him. It was a young man in the dark red Academy uniform but parts of his clothes were burned and darken. The man had dark brown hair as well as dark brown eyes. His face was covered in black soot and his arms looked an angry shade of red. He didn't look that older than David but he wasn't completely certain. The man was alien to David and because of that fact he quickly averted his eyes away from them. He continued to listen to their conversation.

"Really? Just like last time where you failed to construct a turret? Or when you tried to maximize the efficiency of a heat sink?" he asked in a semi mocking tone as the sound of his datapad echoed in the room. "Tell me, Lucas, have you been losing your memory with every accident you cause?"

"Aren't you doctors supposed to heal people? Not adding insult to injury?" The young man, Lucas, asked; annoyance clearly in his voice.

"Have you heard of the saying, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger?' "Dr. Thorns questioned Lucas but David could hear the smile in his voice.

"Whoever said that must have been a masochist," Lucas muttered bitterly and David heard a wince coming from Lucas, "Easy with the Medi-Gel!"

"You engineers…Treating your own body as machines," Dr. Thorn commented absentmindedly. David started to zone out of their conversation and continued counting where he left off. Twenty-five…Thirty-six…Fourty-nine…Sixty-

"Hey Doc, who's that guy over there?"

David snapped out of his trance and he felt a chill spread throughout his body. He started to look around; trying to find something to distract himself. To no avail he started to shake nervously as he closed his eyes.

"Hmm?" Dr. Thorn voiced and David could feel their eyes trained on him. His shaking increased. "Oh…He's another student here. His name is David Archer," Dr. Thorn explained, his voice slightly lower than what it usually was.

"I've never seen him before," Lucas stated. David moved uncomfortably in his bed. Stop looking at me, he thought to himself.

"He's new…His situation is…complicated," Dr. Thorn said. Please stop…

"Complicated how?" Lucas asked; his voice curious and wary.

Dr. Thorn said nothing for the next minute. His silence was a godsend for David. David began to touch the IV tubes connected to his arm; anything to distract himself. His ears picked up when Dr. Thorn said, "I am not the right person to answer that, Lucas."

The room became quiet quickly. The only noise that could be heard was the sounds of machines beeping and David's own breathing. He didn't care at this point that he was heard. He started to preform breathing techniques that Dr. Thorn taught him when he was moved to the medical bay a month ago. He felt his heart rate slow down and his eyes started to close shut. His panic attacks were becoming less frequent but when they came, they hit him hard.

"Let me finish up with Mr. Cole, David, then I will tend you," Dr. Thorn called out to David; the sound of his datapad plinking filled the air.

David could only nod his head but he wasn't even aware that he performed such action. He knew what Dr. Thorn meant. He was going to try to get Lucas patched up so that he could leave the room. He knew how David felt with strangers in the room.

David appreciated it.

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**_A/N:_ Hello again! So, with how I earned generous views and a follower (Thank you kindly, silentmarine!), I think people are interested? I know that they are short and jumps between the timeline, but it's the way I want it to be. I'll gladly make them longer for the next snippets, but I hope you'll bear with me with the time jumps. **

**Thank you so much for taking the time for reading. It doesn't matter to me if I get a lot of reviews; just as long as there are people reading and enjoying what I write. If there's any particular time in David's life you liked to read, I'm open for request!**

**Your humble servant,**

**PurpleViolin**


	3. Restless

**Disclaimer: I do not own David Archer or the Mass Effect franchise. They rightfully belong to BioWare and EA Games.**

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**Restless**

"It's too loud," David murmured as he covered his ears with his hands. The sound of the air conditioner was an annoying buzz to David's ears.

David lay on his bed; curled up in a tight ball. He clutched his bed sheets in a vice-like grip but he enjoyed the pressure he created in his hand. It kept him grounded; rooted to where he should be rather than to be lost in his thoughts. Lately he didn't want to be left in his thoughts. One thought let to another and he would find himself shaking in fear or breathing rapidly. Pressure was good. Pressure was there for him to cling on. Pressure suppressed his thoughts.

He gazed around the room where other students slept peacefully. As far as he could tell he was the only one awake. Those moments were not foreign to him. He had developed a habit where he could not sleep after Project Overlord. When he first arrived at Grissom Academy he refused to sleep and it took three days for the doctors to sedate him with medication that forced him to sleep. The doctors asked him why he didn't want to sleep and his answer was that he was afraid that he would wake up Aite again. That he would wake up in his cage.

He wasn't tired; he had no desire to sleep. He did not mind this. He just wished that he would not have anything to think about. Thinking lead to thoughts he would not like to have. How wished to just focus on one thing and nothing else. Just that one thing.

'_You can always talk to us, David…'_

David frowned at the unexpected voice. "But we talk all the time…" he whispered. He didn't particularly spoke to anyone. To anyone else who might have watched him they would see him staring at a wall with a faraway glint in his eyes.

'_You are the only one who could hear us. Talk to us. We like talking to you…'_

"I know…I'm sorry," he apologized quietly.

The voices laughed quietly, _'There's nothing to be sorry. Now, would you like to talk about something?'_

David bit his lips in thought; concentrating to find a subject to discuss about but nothing came to mind. Or rather, nothing that he would _like _to talk. "N-Not really," he admitted shyly; feeling guilty.

'_Are you sure? You know that you can tell us anything you want. I-We will listen.'_

"Don't I tell you everything?" he asked quietly. The voices had no time to reply because another voice joined in.

"David? Who are you talking to?" A sleep voice asked him.

David jerked at the sudden voice but immediately felt at ease once he recognized the voice. He looked over his shoulder and there he saw Lucas rubbing his tired eyes with his hands. He was sitting up on his bed across from David. He turned to Lucas and stared at him with wide eyes. "W-What?" he asked but he sounded like he choked out the word.

"I thought you," Lucas let out a long yawn and then continued, "I thought I heard you talking. Are you alright, buddy?"

David looked away from Lucas and said, "Y-Yes…I am fine…I'm sorry for waking you…"

Lucas smiled sleepily and yawned once again. "s'No problem. Having trouble sleeping?" David nodded his head. "Well, you want me to stay up with you?"

David shook his head, "N-No…You don't have to…G-Go back to sleep…We have a test tomorrow. You need rest…"

Lucas let out a snort and said, "I might have to wake up early to study for that test. You may be a natural at calculating the rate of electrical signals needed to increase the effectiveness of Eezo but I sure need to remember the equations and formulas." He chuckled quietly but cut it short when he saw the look on David's face. "Are you sure you don't want some company?"

David shook his head and whispered, "No…Thank you…Goodnight Lucas." With that he turned away from Lucas. He could hear Lucas let out of sigh; or was it a yawn? Lucas also bid him good night and he heard Lucas falling back into his bed and not a moment later did he hear Lucas' quiet breathing; indicating that he had fallen asleep.

David laid there in his bed and he felt his eye lids growing heavy. It looked like sleep was catching up to him and he let it be. Before drifting away into slumber he heard the collective voices whispering in his mind.

'_Sleep well, David…'_

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**A/N: Hello again! I see that people are still interested (thank you by the way, jakethecap for following!); which makes me happy that some are enjoying this. This is a short one, but so far one of my favorite to write. I want to explain about this chapter in particular. I have a headcanon that when David gets low, he hears these voices whenever he truly feels alone or frighten. You can say it's one of the outcomes from Project Overlord (where as he could "hear" the Geth's processing thoughts before, he could sometimes imagine that those voices still haunt him). It happened a while ago during an RP event. Like I said, completely headcanon, so no need to apply it to your own. You're more than welcome to message me about if you have any questions. Still taking any requests you want me to write about!**

**As always, I hope that you've enjoyed and I'll see you again next Sunday!**

**Your humble servant,**

**PurpleViolin**


	4. Nightmare: Part one

**Disclaimer: I do not own David Archer or the Mass Effect franchise. They rightfully belong to BioWare and EA Games.**

**Trigger Warning(s): abuse, torture**

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One…Four…Nine…Sixteen…Twenty-Five…

It was dark; very dark. It always was dark in his little world. Only the occasional lights emanating from numbers appearing from his mind was his source of comfort. Numbers he saw. Numbers he counted. Numbers he understood. Growing up with autism had its ups and downs; mostly downs in his part. What he lacked in social skills he made it up with intelligence. He was, and still to this day, unsure if it was a even trade.

Thirty-Six…Forty-Nine…Sixty-Four…Eighty-One…One Hundred…

Pain spread across his lifted and wire connected body as he howled in pain. More numbers flashed by as he tried his best to calculate them as fast as he could. Gavin needed those numbers. Gavin needed those results. David wanted Gavin to be proud of him. Gavin has never been so proud of him ever since he first communicated with the geth. Another shockwave of pain infiltrated his mind and body.

One Hundred and Twenty-One…One Hundred and Forty-Four…One Hundred and Sixty-Nine…One Hundred and Ninety-Six…Two Hundred and Twenty-Five…

No…it hurts too much! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP! Numbers were not supposed to hurt him! Numbers comforted him! Numbers helped him! Why Gavin? Why does it hurt? He said that he was helping people like this. Then why does it hurt?

Two Hundred and Fifty-Six…Two Hundred and Eighty-Nine…Three Hundred and-

Auuugh! The noises! The loud noises! They're back! Please! He doesn't want to hear them! Too loud! They're filling his mind! Too many things going on at the same time! GAVIN! He promised! He said that it was all harmless! HE PROMISED! **MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT-**

David woke up with a start; immediately sitting up from his bed. His breathing came out in rapid puffs and his eyes searched wildly across the room. Only did his breathing slowed once he saw the Grissom Academy logo on the wall. A sob escaped from his dried throat as he curled into a small ball. _It happened again_, he thought as he blinked rapidly. Tears fell down from his face and stained his white pillow but he didn't care. His chest heaved with every sob that escaped. His body shook violently, ignoring the comforting hands of his roommates as they tried to soothe his frighten state.

He mumbled incoherent words rapidly but among the words was "It all seemed harmless".

...One…Four…Nine…Twenty-Five…Thirty-Six…

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_**A/N: Hello everyone! Still happy to see that some are still interested. Also, thank you **trico588 **for both reviewing and following! I'm glad that it has caught your attention and took the time to read it. This isn't a "real" chapter and it's because I didn't write anything for the week since I was on spring break (goodbye, spring break! Parting is such sweet sorrow!). This is a really short piece and I promise to make the future ones longer. As you could tell, this was a nightmare chapter. There will be more like this in the future.**_

_**As always, thank you for reading and let me know what you think!**_

_**Your humble servant,**_

_**PurpleViolin**_


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